At the London 2012 Paralympic Games, Jeff Fabry became the first archer from the United States to win gold at the Olympic or Paralympic Games since 1996. It was the first Paralympic archery title for Team USA since 1984.

Archery has been a medal sport since the Rome 1960 Paralympic Games, which were the first Games held. The competition format for the Paralympic Games is identical to that of the Olympic Games. Archers shoot 72 arrows from a distance of 70 meters at a target of 122 centimeters, trying to achieve a perfect score of 720.

At the 2012 Paralympic Games, held Aug. 30-Sept. 5 at Royal Artillery Barracks, the U.S. Paralympic Archery Team claimed two medals in the men's individual compound competitions. Jeff Fabry won the gold medal in the men's individual compound (W1) event, becoming the first U.S. archer to win the Paralympic Games since 1984. Matt Stutzman won the silver medal in the open event.

Heading into the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, the archery competition is open to men and women with physical disabilities including those with amputations and limb loss, spinal cord injuries and traumatic brain injuries. Athletes can compete either standing or in chairs.

Archery by impairment group

Amputee/
Dwarfism*/
Other

Blind/
Visually
Impaired

Spinal Cord Injury/
Paralyzed/
Wheelchair User

Traumatic
Brain
Injury/
Cerebral Palsy/Stroke

Intellectual Impairment

X

X

X

* Dwarfs are not eligible for Paralympic archery

The U.S. Paralympic Archery Team and the day-to-day operations of the high performance program are overseen by USA Archery, the National Governing Body for both Olympic and Paralympic archery in the United States. Click here for the USA Archery Team website.

For more information related to Paralympic archery, visit USAArchery.org.